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Gene Frenette: Russell Allen's situation shows why players must get money when they can

Gene Frenette

A healthy Russell Allen would have been hard pressed to keep his starting linebacker job with the Jaguars in 2014, but the bizarre end to his football career due to an on-field stroke last year against the Buffalo Bills is another reason why players feel obligated to bargain for every contract dollar.

Allen’s situation is a reminder to NFL players that there are certain times when holdouts, regardless of the public relations hit they might take, are a necessary evil. Hopefully, Allen can live a normal post-football life, but his awful circumstances will make him the poster boy for his NFL colleagues to leverage whatever money they can. When it comes to career expiration dates, football is about as fragile as it gets. …

My guess is the Jaguars have pretty much resigned themselves into thinking they’ll be game-planning against Jadeveon Clowney for the next five years. With the Houston Texans having someone like J.J. Watt to serve as a mentor, it’s hard to imagine them passing up the South Carolina pass-rusher.

If Clowney is available with the No. 3 pick, the Jaguars might consider it their best gift since Morten Andersen missed a 30-yard field goal that put them in the 1996 playoffs. …

Florida center Jon Harrison, who is preparing for the NFL Draft, quickly tried to douse the fire he created in comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, saying there was a lot of finger-pointing among players during the Gators’ 4-8 season and shenanigans like players trying to sneak girls into hotel rooms. As well as he backpedaled in a follow-up story to the Orlando Sentinel, including serious making up to coach Will Muschamp, maybe Harrison should have been a cornerback. …

When former Jacksonville University coach Cliff Warren accepted a position this week as director of basketball operations at Maryland, which prohibits him from coaching and recruiting off-campus, it signaled a possible career change. Warren is considering a path into athletic administration. …

When I wrote last week about Arlington Country Day basketball coach Rex Morgan recovering from a second cancer, he revealed that 6-foot-8 swingman Dedric Lawson and his brother, K.J., were coming to ACD from Memphis, Tenn. That news sent shock waves through that hoops hotbed because the Lawsons had not announced they were moving to Jacksonville. Chandler Lawson, who will be an eighth-grader and is considered a top national prospect, will also be playing at ACD. The Lawsons’ father, Keelan, is a high school coach in Memphis and will assist Morgan in coaching his three sons. …

So Michigan’s Mitch McGary is heading to the NBA rather than serve a one-year suspension after testing positive for marijuana during the NCAA Tournament. Smart move. In the NBA, weed is almost a mandatory part of offseason conditioning.